Yue Jiang
The Reenactment
-"Object" as Performance
ABSTRACT
Throughout history, women have endured many obstacles placed upon them in both the private and public spheres. Women are pressured to achieve an ideal beauty standard and the expectation to fulfill the obligation of traditional domestic roles. As a 23-year old Chinese woman who daily faces these pressures, I intentionally critique them using my body as the site and the pressure as the subject. Through acts of performance, using handmade and mass-produced objects consumed daily by women, I highlight the insidious pressures and expectations placed upon women’s bodies. By utilizing the format of photography to document the discomfort of “wearing” or experiencing the work, I want to create a similar dis-ease with the viewer, who may or may not share a similar experience, to encourage women and myself to escape from those pressures and expectations.
Task For Women
Photography
32"x54"
2021
In the work Tasks for Women, I multiply the facial mask into an exaggerated quantity to express the idea that using the facial mask is a daily must-do task for women to reach a standard skin beauty. To hold all the masks in my face, I need to angle my back to hold the heavy stake of masks. The heaviness of the mask makes me hard to breath and the pose is also painful to hold for the photo documentation. The quantity of the object forces me to adopt the new way of “wearing” the work.
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Perfectly Clean
Photography, Oject: resin
36"x24"
2021
I made an exaggeratedly big razor in the work Perfect Clean. All the designs are the same as the real razor in our daily lives, so it is easy to recognize. In China, women will get judge if they are not shaving their body hair, especially on their arms, underarms, and legs. I make the razor extremely big and heavy, changing the way of holding it when using it. For example, I need to handle it with both hands to shave my leg. The size and the heaviness leave pressure on my body, and it makes my arms feel discomfort. The photography provides the context for the razor. I pick the bathroom and the sink as background where I usually shave my body.
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Voices Behind Me
Photography, Object Material: pearl pins
20"x32"
2020
Voices Behind Me is about the pressure coming from women talking behind women. I use pearls pin because pearls can represent gender. It is a feminine material. I use the pearl pin to form the shape of the speaking mouth and attach the objects directly to the skin. When the objects are on the body, they hurt my body. The work aims to shows the discomfort and pain to know the voices behind people.
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Sad Dinner
Photography, Object Material: 14k gold plate brass
20"x30"
2021
Sad Dinner is a set of miniature tableware that talks about dieting. The miniature tableware is to express the idea that many women are trying to eat minimum food to lose weight, which negatively affects mental and physical health. I bring this set of tableware to a restaurant and use them to have dinner. I went with my friend, and she had regular-sized food in front of her, but I can only use the miniature tableware to eat the limited amount of food. The photography documents when I was using the miniature tableware in the restaurant and the emotion in doing so.
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The "Prettier" Version of Me
Photography, Object Material: resin
14"x21"
2021
The work The “Prettier” Version of Me, critiques the beauty standard on achieving the double eyelid in China. In this piece, I refer to the tools women usually use to put the eyelid sticker on. I make the tools exaggeratedly big and the sticker three times longer and more obvious to criticize the eyelid standard in China. I also photograph the action of experiencing the object with the sad face to show the discomfort of pressuring the eye standard.
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Me and My Yoga Mat
Photography, Object Material: yoga mat and elastic band
32"x18"
2020
Some photography in my work consists of a certain level of retouching to emphasize the feeling of pressure. In the work, Me and My Yoga Mat, I exaggerate the size of the waist and the shapes that the yoga mat creates on the waist. Enhancing the photograph makes the action appear more harmful and uncomfortable to the body because it distorts the body’s shapes with the exaggerated force of the pulling motion of the hands. The work aims to express women's pressure on pursuing ideal body shapes.
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Long Hair Standard
Photography, Object Material: hair ties
20"x30"
2020
Long hair is always a symbol for girls. In China, people still prefer girls to have long hair. In my own experience, I have heard many people, including my parents, told me to get my long hair back. It is a pressure to pursue social norms on the hairstyle. Thus, I use a popular phrase in China as the idea to make this piece. The phrase is: When your hair reaches the waistline, it is time to get married. In this piece, I use around 1400 hair ties to form 6 braids which is a very traditional hairstyle in China. I also make a red cotton braid and wear it on my waist to show the waistline.
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